Machine for rolling metal



Jan. 31, 1961 F. R. KRAUSE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL Filed March 25, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 ATTORNEYS Jan. 31, 1961 F. R. KRAUSE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 23, 1954 mom\ QON

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A'T TO R NEYS Jan. 31, 1961 'F.1. KRAUsE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL Filed March 25, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 7 215 231 233 23olle 231255, 256' 229 117 233 22? LM j 1 11M Il y l: l l I I' 226 f 122 m C@ H1] @so i 221 @S2M/ 1. I l w" 84 INVENToR. IE-z E FRANK R. KRAUSE 3 BY AT TO RN EYS Jan. 31, 1961 F. R. KRAUSE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed .March 23, 1954 mams Q mm om. S. @m @i Mm j :v ox vm www ovm m/ www Q w mmm @n I mm am@ Il E @m .I I un Il Il m I Q mmm\ wm ESN Hamm mmw l mW/m o@ mmm m@ NQ m www E @mm mm @Q @m mi m@ mm om @e ATTORNEYS Jan. 31, 1961 F. R. KRAUSE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed March 23, 1954 INVENTOR. FRANK R. KRAUSE A.//` WK M ATTORNEY F. R. KRAUSE MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL Filed March 23, 1954 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 IlflIl/llllllllll .n E-

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FRANK R. KRAUSE [124|] BY I ATTORNEYS United States Patent O MACHINE FOR ROLLING METAL Frank R. Krause, New Castle, Pa., assignor to Thompson Ramo Wooldridge, Inc., a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 23, 1954, Ser. N0. 418,168

7 Claims. (Cl. 80-40) The present invention relates to metal rolling and more particularly the present invention relates to a new and improved work rolling mechanism and method operable to substantially increase the allowable draft to be taken in a workpiece blank during a single rolling pass over the workpiece.

Rolling mills and rolling mill type operations, and more specifically those which have for their principal object the reduction in thickness and/or contouring of stock materials, have been seriously limited in the amount of work or reduction which may be effected on a workpiece in a single pass over the workpiece for various reasons. One of the most important reasons creating this limitation has been that the slip angles of the rolls engaging the workpiece have been so small that the draft has also been necessarily small to prevent the work from building up in front of the roll above the slip angle position.

When the work did build up in front of the roll whereby the work and roll engagement contact arc was greater than the slip angle, the workpiece would generally cease rolling through the mill and the roll would simply slip in its position on the workpiece.

Numerous efforts have been made to avoid this difficulty and among them has been work tensioning techniques which have operated to pull on the workpiece in an effort to keep it flowing between the work rolls. These techniques and the systems employing them have been limited, however, and have heretofore not proven successful. One of the causes for their failure was the serious irregular elongation of the material under high tension particularly when the workpiece was given an unsymmetrical or irregular cross-sectional conguraton. Another cause for the diilcuty lies in the substantially low tensile strength of thin gauge lmaterial whereby breakage is frequently obtained.

Even neglecting these diiculties, tensioning techniques have not generally been successful as a means for increasing the draft capacity of the rolls, but rather have added to the costs of operation and maintenance without attending benets.

In my copending application United States Serial No. 359,304, tiled June 3, 1953, now Patent No. 2,878,697, and entitled Machine for Rolling Metal, of which application this is a continuation-impart, I have described a rolling mechanism and a rolling method whereby the draft capacity of the rolling metal rolls may be substantially increased by applying the roling forces to the rolls substantially at the outer periphery of the rolls rather than axially thereof through conventional shafts and shaft driving mechanisms.

By the principles of the present invention, however, I have provided a new and improved rolling mechanism and method whereby the available draft may be well in excess of the normal slip angle of the rolls on the work piece.

Rolling mills embodying the principles of the present invention and operating in accordance with the rolling ICC method of the present invention are arranged with work-Y ing rolls that are frictionally driven on their peripheries and which have driving means positively engaging the rolls simultaneously rolling them on the aforementioned drive surfaces. With this arrangement, the rolls are positively driven with substantially peripheral driving thereby reducing any tendency for the rolls to slip. In addition, the leading end of the workpiece may be gripped in a gripper mechanism associated and assembled with the same mechanism which positively engages and drives therolls thereby coordinating the movement of the workpiece and movement of the rolls.

Through this arrangement, which has been most succinctly described, rolling mechanisms employing thisV invention and operating in accordance with the methods of this invention are operable to effect a substantially increased draft in metal rolling workpieces, including tak-v ing a draft in the workpiece substantially in excess of the slip angle of the work rolls on the workpiece without irregularly stretching or elongating the material and Without exceeding its tensile strength.

Another feature of the present invention is the provi-l duction in the workpiece in a single pass of the Work'- piece through the rolling mill.

It is another important object of the present invention to provide a rolling mill operable to effect workpiece thickness reduction with a draft well beyond the normal slip angle of the rolls.

It is another important object o-f this invention to provide a new and improved rolling mill operable with a draft capacity well beyond the normal slip angle of the work rolls to thereby effect a maximum reduction lin the thickness of the workpiece Within the tensile strength ofr the workpiece.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rolling mill with a mi'l housing carrying roller cam plates, a roll carriage reciprocably disposed within said mill housing and having work rolls thereon peripherally engaging the cam plates, and means to positively drive the wo-rk rolls substantially in synchronism, and with a locked drive. Y 5

Still another obect of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rolling mill having a mill housing carrying a pair of spaced opposed roll engaging plates, a roll carriage reciprocably disposed within the, mill housing and carrying a pair of journaled work rolls therein positioned to peripherally engage the face of the roll engaging plates, and a rack and gear driving mechanism positively controlling rolling of said rolls as the roll carriage is reciprocated in the mill housing.

Still another obiect of the present invention is to provide a metal rolling mechanism with a work gripping and tensioning mechanism and a roll driving mechanismV operatively interconnected to effect rolling of the workpiece with a draft in excess of the normal slip angle of the rolls within the tensile strength of the workpiece.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a rolling mechanism with a recnrocable roll driving mechanism which positively engages the working rolls to drive them substantially synchronously and which carries a work gripping mechanism reciprocably mounted Patented Jan. 3l, 1961 on the roll driving mechanism to. compensate for any. difference between the rate of movement of the workpiece and the rate of movement of the rolls as the rolls Amove over the workpiece to reduce theV same.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved work gripping and tensioning control mechanism for metal rolling machines to controlV the rate of movement of the workpiece operably with, the rate of movement of the working rolls ofthe rolling mill operating on the workpiece to reduce the same.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved rolling mili mechanism with aworkpiece feeding mechanism operatively associated with a work tensioning and gripping mechanism which isz reciprocably mounted with respect to a roll` driving mechanism and further reciprocable with the roll driving mechanism for synchronously driving the working rolls.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description of the principles of the present invention and preferred embodiments thereof, from the claims, and from the accompanying drawings in which each and every detail shown is fully and completely disclosed as apart of this specification, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and in which:

lFigure 1 is a top plan view of a rolling mill mechanism embodying the principles of the present invention and partially in section to better illustrate certain features thereof;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the rolling mill mechanism of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a partial sectional View ofthe work feeding mechanism and taken substantially along the line III-III of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is an end elevational view of a composite roll driving rack taken substantially in the direction of; the arrows IV-IV of Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a transverse sectional view of the rolling mill mechanism of Figure l and is taken substantially along the line V-V of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a fragmental sectional view ofA tl'teresilent structure supporting and suspending the outer rack bars` in the mill housing as taken substantially along the line VI--VI of Figure 2;

Figure 7 is a longitudinal sectional View of a rolling mill forming another embodiment of the presentV invention;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the rolling mill structure of Figure 7 and shown with the mill housing in horizontal section to better illustrate certain features of the invention;

Figure 9 is a rear end fragmental elevational view of a portion of the structure of Figure 8 taken substantially along the line IX--IX and viewed in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 10 is a substantially schematic view of a rolling operation in accordance with the principles of the present invention and employing a matrix member for shaping the workpiece being rolled and imparting a desired crosssectional configuration thereto;

Figure 1l is a substantially schematic and cross-sectional view of the rolling operation of Figure lO and taken substantially along the line XI-Xl of Figure 10;

Figures 12, 13 and 13a are schematic illustrations com.- paring rolling in accordance with the principles of the present invention (Figure l2) with rolling in accordance with other known principles (Figures 13 and 13a); and

Figure 14 is a schematic illustration of rolling in accordance with the principles of the present invention and diagrammatically indicating various features of such rolling.

General operating principles Rolling mills such as those are described in my. prior Patents No. 2,161,064, issued June 6, 1939; for Method and Apparatus for Elongating Metal Blanks, and No.

2,223,039., issued November 26, 19.40, for Method for Elongating Metal Blanks, and in my hereinabove identied copending application, now Patent No. 2,878,697, have reciprocating mill housings in which are mounted roll carriages carrying working rolls that engage upper and lower cam track plates respectively and a workpiece therebetween. Mechanisms embodying the principles described and set forth in, those patents and in the said application are operable to take a substantially increased draft in a workpiece, as compared to the draft. which may be taken in a workpiece in the ordinary 2-hi or 4-hi rolling mills by applying the rolling force to the rolls substantially at the periphery of the rolls rather than through shaft centers.

In accordance with the principles of the present invention, however, the rolling forces are applied to the working rolls of this type of machine not only by the frictional engagement of the rolls with the roll track andv cam plates but also byV positive coupling and synchronization of the rollsand positive driving thereof. through gear and rack assemblies or the like.

It will be understood, of course, that the principles; of the present invention are applicable to numerous types. of rolling mills. The preferred embodiments of the present invention hereinafter described in detail, and. illustrated in the drawings, are, however, rolling mills wherein a roll carriage carrying a pair of working rolls is reciprocably disposed within a mill housing having a pair of roller track cam plates which engage the periphery of the rolls substantially diametrically opposite to` their engagement with the workpiece between the rolls. Further, in accordance with the principles of the present invention, the workpiece may be tensioned to overcome bucking forces in the metal workpiece.V within the tensile strength of the workpiece.

By positively synchronizing and driving the rolls. by such means as gear and rack arrangements wherein the gears are iixed to the` rolls substantially coaxially: therewith and a common rack engages both of the gears so that translation of the rack will rotate. the gears and the rolls and by further providing substantially stationary racks on the mill housing to also engage the gears, a greatly increased draft may be taken in a workpiece while utilizing the same size rolls as those in other rolling mill mechanisms, or the same draft may be taken in the workpiece while employing a much smaller diameter working roll. A

` In Figures 12, 13 and 13a, there is schematically illustrated three sets ofrolls 10-11, 17a-13, and 14-15, respectively, with each set taking substantially the same draft d," "d', and d", in workpieces 16, 17 and 18 respectively. The upper and' lower fragmental rolls 14 and 15 of Figure 13a represent shaft center supported and driven rolls of numerous types of conventionally known rolling mills. The draft 11 which is being taken by each of the rolls 14 and 15 in the workpiece 18 represents the maximum draft which can be taken in a workpiece being worked on by shaft center driven and supported rolls without exceeding the slip angle, the angle a" dened by lines or planes extending from the center c of the rolls to the points or lines where the rolls Contact the work, as at x" and where the rolls leave the work as at y". Should any greater` draft be taken in the workpiece 18 by the rolls'14 and 15, the rolls would slip in place on the. work andthe rolling operation would stop or the workpiece would break or the like.

When the rolls are peripherally driven, however, and peripherally supported, as schematically illustratedin Figure 13, the draft d' may be taken in the workpiece 17 by each of the rolls 12 and 13 eventhough the rollsl 12 and 13 each have a diameter which is substantially one-fourth of the diameter of each of the rolls 14 and 15. This draft d which is the same as the draft d" taken in the workpiece 18 is substantially in excess vof ther draftb which is the maximum draft which could have been taken in the aecomo supported and driven. Had the rolls 12 and 13 been shaft center driven and supported, their maximum slip angle with the workpiece would have been the angle b shown as a roll center angle. By peripherally supporting and driving the roll, however, the draft d may be taken in the workpiece 17 as a maximum draft for the rolls 12 and 13 and limited by the slip angle a which is defined by lines or planes extending from the point or line of contact between the roll 12 and its track plate 19 (the lower roll 13 of Figure 13 is peripherally supported and driven by a peripheral contacting track plate 20) and the points or lines where the rolls contact the work as at y', respectively. The roll center angle which defines the same work contacting arc for the rolls is identified by the center angle f.

By driving the work rolls in accordance with the principles of the present invention, as shown in Figure 12, the rolls and 11 may take a draft d in the workpiece 16 even though the rolls `1f) and 11 have a diameter which is substantially smaller than the diameter of the rolls 12 and 13. This important improvement is due to a locked drive, positively rolling and driving the rolls about instant peripheral centers by providing the rolls 10 and 11 with substantially coaxial gears 21 and 22 respectively (shown by dashed circular lines) and positively coupling the gears together through a double faced rack 23 and by further positively coupling the rolls 10 and 11 to the roll track cam plates 24 and 25 by providing racks 26 and 27 thereon respectively for positively engaging the gears 21 and 22. By moving the rack 23 to the right, for example, the rolls 10 and 11 will roll angularly in the directions indicated by the curved arrows and will reduce the workpiece each by taking a draft as indicated by the draft d. The peripheral angle representing the contact angle for a normal load for rolls driven by locked drive in accordance with the principles of the present invention is intdicated by the angle a in Figure 12. The center angle Idening the same work contacting arc is indicated by the letter and is substantially greater than the center angle j" which defines the maximum work contacting arc or slip angle when the rolls are peripherally contact driven only thereby permitting only a draft as indicated at b".

As an example of the importance of the improvement which the present invention provides over the prior art and other systems, and as a comparison between the three types of work reducing operations which have been illustrated in Figures 12, 13 and 13a, if it is assumed that the work rolls 14 and 15 are 24 inch diameter rolls, then to effect the same draft in a workpiece, the rolls 12 and 13 need only be 6 inch diameter rolls and the rolls 10 :and 11 need only be 3 inch diameter rolls. It will thus be obvious that by rolling a workpiece in accordance with #the principles of the present invention, a draft may be taken in the workpiece which is well in excess of the mormal slip angle of the rolls.

To further illustrate this, Figure 14 is another schematic illustration of locked drive rolling in accordance with the principles of the present invention with rolls 28 and 29 which are peripherally engaged by roll track cam plates 30 and 31 respectively. The rolls 28 and 29 further carry coaxial gears 32 and 33 respectively (shown by dashed circles) and are positively coupled together and engaged by a double faced rack 34. The gears 32 and 33 are also positively engaged by racks 35 and 36 carried by the roll track cam plates 30 and 31 respectively so that movement of the rack 34 as to the right in Figure 14 will cause peripheral instant center rotation of the rolls 28 and 29 in the direction indicated by the curved arrows.

By this arrangement which is substantially identical to the arrangement of Figure l2, the workpiece 37 may be reduced by a draft h by each roll, which is greatly in excess of a draft i which could be taken in the workpiece by each roll if the rolls were peripherally contact supported and driven only and which in turn is also greatly in excess of the draft k which could be taken in the workpiece by each of the rolls if the rolls were center supported and driven only. Thus, if the rolls were only center supported and driven, they would have a slip angle defined by the center angle k', while they would have a slip angle j with an equivalent center angle j" when pe-l ripherally contacted and driven. The angle h with an equivalent center angle h here, however, merely represents the contact angle between the workpiece and lthe roll for a locked drive arrangement as herein set forth.

Under these rolling conditions, the material in the workpiece so flows between the rolls that when a draft h is takenv the material is not only squeezed and reduced in gauge but it is also substantially extruded rearwardly fr-om between the rolls. Thus, there is not only a rolling operation effected on the workpiece to elongate the same and provide it with a desired cross-sectional con- Iltour, but there is also effected an extrusion operation which greatly increases the efficiency of rolling in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

The draft h, with the attending contact angles h' and h, does not however, represent the rolling dra-ft limit for rolling with rolls driven by a locked drive; the draft h merely represents `a draft which may be taken by these rolls and which is in excess of the draft j and the normal dra-ft and slip angles j and j" thereof when the rolls are peripheral contact driven. The maximum draft which may be taken by rolls driven by a locked drive is shown at m with contact m.

The draft limit m is reached in mechanisms and methods embodying the principles of the present invention when the longitudinal component of the forces acting on the workpiece, and transmitted thereto from the rolls, approaches or equals the maximum permissible pulling forces on the reduced workpiece. Such a force tensioning the workpiece is represented by the arrow P in figure 14. This fo-rce P cannot exceed the tensile strength of the workpiece 37 at its minimum cross-sectional area as indicated at 38. It is preferred that the locked drive system be operated with the force P not in excess of the elastic limitof the reduced portion 38 of the workpiece 37.

Thus, it will be seen, that rolling in accordance with the principles of the present invention permits taking a draft far in excess of the normal slip angle of the rolls.

The mechanisms in general In Figures 1 through 6, and more particularly in Fig-l ures l, 2 and 5, there is illustrated a composite embodiment of the present invention, indicated generally at 39, wherein a mill stand or supporting frame 39a or the like supports and carries a mill housing 4f). The roll carriage 41 is mounted for forward and rearward translation and reciprocation within the mill housing 40 and carries journaled work rolls 42 and 43 thereon for rolling a workpiece 44 therebetween.

To reciprocate the roll carriage 41 within the mill housing 40, a cross-head 45 is slidably reciprocable on guide rails 46 and 47 and is power-driven in controlled reciprocating motion by drive means such as a pair of piston-cylinder assemblies 48 and 49 coupled to the crosshead 45 and mounted on the base frame. A pair of racks 5f) and 51 couple the cross-head 45 to gears on the rolls 42 and 43.

The embodiment of Figures 7, 8 and 9 is similarly arranged with a base frame 52 which carries a mill housing 53 in which a roll carriage 5,4 is appropriately supported for forward and rearward controlled and powered reciprocation. The roll carriage 54 is provided with a pair of rolls 55 and 56 which are operatively arranged to cold roll a workpiece 57 and which are coupled to a cross-head 58 carrying racks 59 that engage gears on the rolls 55 and 56. The cross-head 58 is reciprocably and slidably mounted on guide rails 60 and 61 and is power-V drivenby such driveV means as a pair of'` piston-cylinderassemblies 62 and 63 that are coupled to the cross-head 578 and mounted on the base frame 52.

The base frame and mill housing of' I-bearnsections including side beams 64 and" 65 and' endf beam sections-66= and 67 which are appropriately secured together as by welding or the like and fixed on any tioor or supporting structure such as a concrete base 68 or the like. The upper faces of the several base frame I-beams are preferably substantially coplanar, butf at least the upper surfaces of the longitudinal side beams 64 and 65are substantially coplanar.

Thevmill housing 40 -is secured to and supported by the` side beams 64 and 65 so that the passage through the mill housing for reciprocation of the roll carriage 41 is substantially horizontal and properly leveled. The mill housing 40 is preferably formed from upper and lower housing blocks 69 and 70 respectively, which are fixed in a spaced opposed relation by side tie plates '71 and 72. By preference, the housing blocks 69 and 76 have a U- like configuration in cross-section (Figure and are intertted into longitudinal recesses 73 in the upper and lower regions of the tie plates 71 and 72 and are there secured in place in any convenient manner.

Support and bracket plates 74 and 75 horizontally secured to the exterior faces of each of the tie plates 71 and 72, respective-ly, yand further secured to the tie plates through ear-like brace members 76 which may be relatively small substantially triangular members secured to both the upper face of the support or bracket plates 74' and 75 and the outer surface of the tie plates 71 and 72, and which are plural in number as seen in Figure l, support the mill housing 40 on the main frame or base frame 39a and more particularly on the upper face of the side frame beams 64 and 65. Recessesl 77 in the bracket plates 74 and 75' are provided to accept the upper flanges of the side frame beams 64 and 65 and they are then secured thereto by any convenient means such as welding or riveting or the like to firmly fix the mill housing on the main frame.

The upper and lower housing blocks 69 and "iti which are maintained in spaced opposed relationship by the side tie plates 71 and 72l have opposed inwardly facing wedge block accepting tapered recesses 78 and '79 respectively7 in which wedge blocks 80 and 31 are slidably fitted. The recesses 7S and 79 are tapered outwardly and forwardly and the wedge blocks 89 and 81 are correspondingly tapered with an increasing thickness in a forward direction so that the inner faces 82 and S3 of the wedge blocks 80 and 81, respectively, are disposed substantially horizontally and inwardly facing towards the horizontal center plane of the mill housing 40. Roll track cam plates 84 and 85 are then disposed slidably on the horizontal inner faces 82 and 83 ofthe wedge blocks 80 and S1, respectively.

j The cam plates 84 and 85 have inner faces 86 and S7,

respectively, which are properly contoured and congu rated for proper rolling relation against the rolls 42 and 43 journaled on the roll carriage assembly 41. By this arrangement, the vertical spacing between the roll track cam plates 84 and S5 controls the gauge or thickness to Which the workpiece 44 will be worked and rolled.

To control the spacing between the inner faces or cani faces 86 and 87 of the track cam plates 84 and 85, means is provided for adjusting the wedge blocks 80 and $1 since the cam plates lie thereagainst and since movement of the wedge blocks forwardly or rearwardly will move the cam plates tol greater or lesser spacing vertically therebetween. The lowerV cam plate 85 rests on the lower wedgcblockzl while the upper cam plate' 84is=resiliently held against the` upper wedge block by studs 885 and. 89 which are threaded in appropriate apertures inthecamA plate or are otherwise affixed thereto and extend through an elongated slot 90 in the wedge block 80 and through appropriate aperturesl 9.1 and 92 in the housing block 69;v At their upperends, the studs 88 and 89 carry'adjustiugl nuts 93 and 94 which control the compression forces on biasing springs95 and 96 which are seated between thesey nuts and spring` seat recesses 97 and 98-at the upper endsy of the apertures 91 and 92,

Thus, it will be observed that forward and rearward movement of the wedge blocks Stil and 8,1 will control the:

spacing between the roll track cam plates 84 and 85. To move the wedge blocks 80' and 81' forwardly and rearwardly, their front faces have plates 99 and 190V secured? thereto and extending outwardly therefrom.r An 'aperture'.

101 and 102 in each of the wedge block adjusting plates 99 and 100 is alignedV with a threadedrecess 103 and-104:

in each of the housing blocks andthe axes of these apertures and recessesV are parallel with the sloped facerofV the wedge accepting recesses-in the housing blocks respec-` tively. Wedge block adjusting screws 105 and 106y threaded into the recesses 103 and 104 carry shoulderA or nut members` 107-168 and 1119-110; which bear against theforward and rearward faces of the adjustingA cally toward each other to reduce the gauge or thickness of the workedV workpiece 44 while movement of the wedge blocksV outwardly will separate the track cam platesv a greater distance. ThisY vertical adjustment of the camv plates 84 and 85 is permitted by adjustment of the position of the wedge blocks` 80 and 81 since the upper roll track cam plateV 84 is biased upwardly against thelower horizontal face of the upper wedge block 80v and since the lower roll track cam plate 85 rests against the upper horizontal face 83 of the wedge block 31 as by force of gravity.

The base frame or standard 52andV the mill housing'53 of the rolling mechanism of Figures 7,v 8 and 9 are Sub'- stantially identical to the base frame 39av and' the mill housing 40. In this embodiment, the base frame 52 is constructed preferably from a plurality of I-beams or the like such as longitudinally extending side beams' 111 and 112 which are secured at their ends to transversely extending end beams 113 'and 114.

The mill housing 53 has an upper housing block 11S and a lower housing block 116 which are secured together through a pair of side tie plates 117 and 118 which have supporting ears 119 and 120 and supporting bracket plates 121 and 122 secured thereto and to the upper. surfaceof the side beams 111 and 112, respectively, to support the mill housing 53 in a substantially horizontal position.

Each of the housing blocks 11S and 116 is provided with a longitudinally extending wedging recess 123 and 124 of forwardly increasing depth with Wedge blocks 125 and 126 slidably arranged therein so that the inwardly facing surfaces 127 and 128 thereof are substantially horizontal and substantially parallel to the median horizontal planeV of themill housing 53. Roll track cam plates 129 and 13() lie against the faces 127 and 123 of the wedge blocks and 126, respectively, and while the lower roll track cam plate 130V rests on the wedge block 126 by force'of gravity, the upper roll track cam plate 129 is biased upwardly against the upper wedge block 12S by spring loaded studs 131 and 132v which are threadedinto the upper roll track cam plate 129 and extend upwardly through apertures 132 and 133 inthe upper housing block 115'.Y Attheinupperlends'; thelstuds 131 and'1'32 are threaded and carry pairs of biasing adjusting and locking nuts 134 and 135 thereon for controlling the biasing and compression forces of biasing springs 136, 136 retained substantially coaxial with the studs 131 and 132 between the adjusting nuts 134 and 135 and bottomed recesses 137 and 138 which are upper end enlargements of the apertures 132 and 133.

The wedge blocks 125 and 126 are also forwardly and rearwardly adjustable to adjust the vertical position of the roll track cam plates 129 and 130. To this end, wedge adjusting plates 139 and 140 are secured to the forward face edges of the wedge blocks 125 and 126 and extend beyond the angular faces of the wedge blocks where they are apertured as at 141 and 142 respectively. Coaxially with the apertures 141 and 142, threaded recesses 143 and 144 are provided in the front edges of the housing blocks 115 and 116 and adjusting screws 145 and 146 having appropriately conligurated tool receiving front ends 147 and 148 extend through the apertures 141 or 142 and are threaded into the recesses 143 and 144. Shoulderng and locking adjusting nuts 149-150 and 151-152 on the screws 145 and 146 abut the front and rear faces of the adjusting plates 139 and 140. By properly directionally rotating the screws 147 and 148, the wedge blocks 125 and 126 may be moved longitudinally forwardly and rearwardly to increase or decrease spacing between the roll track cam plates 129 and 130 for numerous various purposes such as releasing the rolls 55 and 56 from the workpiece on the return stroke or to control the gauge of the worked workpiece as the same is rolled between the rolls 55 and 56.

The roll carriages and tracks Substantially parallel track bars 46 and 47 extending longitudinally of the rolling mill of Figures l through 6 are secured in grooves 153 and 154 in the inner surfaces of the tie plates 71 and 72 and slidably carry and support the roll carriage 41 for reciprocation of the roll carriage on the track bars 46 and 47 within the mill housing 40 between the roll track cam plates 84 and 85. More specically, the roll carriage 41 is provided with a box-like roll carriage frame 155 having outer end walls 156 and 157, the outer surfaces of which are grooved as at 158 and 159, respectively, to receive the track bars 46 and 47 for slidably supporting the roll carriage 41. The track bars 46 and 47 extend from the rearward end of the machine, where they are supported on a cross bar 160 secured to the rear end frame beam 67 and to the rear ends of the side beams 64 and 65, to a point slightly forwardly of the front end of the mill housing thereby permitting reciprocation of the roll carriage for the full longitudinal dimension of the mill housing 40.

The roll carriage frame 155 is a substantially rectangular structure in which the rolls 42 and 43 are journaled for rotation with substantially parallel and aligned horizontal axes and mounted for relative vertical movement. To provide the rolls 42 and 43 with such a mounting, the upper roll 42 is journaled in a pair of bearing blocks 161 and 162 which are slidably arranged in vertical bearing grooves 163 and 164 on the inner faces of the carriage frame end walls 156 and 157. Similarly, the lower roll '43 is journaled in bearing blocks 165 and 166 which are slidably arranged in the bearing grooves 163 and 164.

In normal operation of the rolling mill, the rolls 42 and 43 roll on the roll track cam plates 84 and 85 as the roll carriage 41 is reciprocated within the mill housing 40. To maintain the rolls in bearing relation against the cam surfaces 86 and 87 of the roll track cam plates 84 and 85, biasing means such as compression springs 167 and 168 are disposed between the journal bearing blocks 161 and 165, and 162 and 166, respectively. Additionally, retaining pins 169 and '170 are provided on a bearing block at each side of the rolls to maintain the separat; ing and biasing springs 167 and 168 in their proper position.

The roll carriage 54 of the rolling mill of Figures 7, 8 and 9 is substantially identical to the roll carriage 41 so far as the roll carriage 41 has been described immediately hereinabove. That is, the roll carriage 54 is provided with a substantially rectangular frame 171 having end walls 172 and 173, the outer faces of which are provided with recesses 174 and 175 that permit longitudinal horizontal reciprocation of the roll carriage 54 on the track bars 6i) and 61 which are secured in grooves 176 and 177 in the mill housing tie plates 117 and 118 and which extend from a position in front of the mill housing 53 to the rearward extremity of the base frame 52 where they are secured to a cross bar 178 affixed on the rearward end of the upper face of the rear end beam 114 and the rearward end of the side beams 111 and 112.

The rolls 55 and 56 are journaled on vertically spaced horizontal transversely extending axes in bearing blocks 176 vertically slidable in bearing grooves 177 in the inner faces of the end walls 172 and 173 of the roll carriage frame 171. The bearing blocks are biased apart by cornpression springs 178 which are retained in position between bllocks on each side of the roll carriage by retainer pins 179.

The forward face plate 188 of the roll carriage frame 171 has symmetrical workpiece guides 181 and 182 secured thereto and extending rearwardly towards a position between the rolls 55 and 56 to support the workpiece 57 and to guide the same into position between the rolls 55 and 56.

Although the roll carriage frame may be provided with workpiece guides similar to the guides 181 and 182, in the embodiment of Figures 1 through 6 such a workpiece guide is not secured to the front wall of the roll carriage frame. The roll carriage frame 155 is provided with a plurality of backing rollers 183, 184, 185 and 186 that are journaled in inwardly extending ear-like members 187 which lie in substantially parallel planes above and below the working plane of the rolling mill and which extend inwardly from the front and rear walls of the roll carriage frame 155 (note Figure 2).

The backup rolls 183 through 186 bear inwardly against spread limiting bars 188 and 188 which are pivotally secured to the gripper carriage 189 and which prevent undue spreading of the workpiece during the rolling operation in the manner hereinafter described in detail in conjunction with the operation of the rolling mill.

The crosshead, power and drive mechanism The crosshead 45 extends laterally across the width of the mill housing and is provided with longitudinally extending bearing recesses 190 and 191 for slidably receiving the track bars 46 and 47 therein. Laterally outwardly extending ears 192 and 193 provide means for coupling the cross head 45 to the pistons 194 and 195 of the pistoncylinder assemblies 48 and 49. Coupling members 196 and 197 are secured to the rearward end of the piston rods 19'4 and 195 and are pinned to the ears 192 and 193 as by pins or the like 198 and 199.

The piston-cylinder assemblies 48 and 49 are arranged longitudinally of the rolling mill and are secured on base blocks 280 affixed to the upper surface of the mill housing supporting bracket plates 74 and 75, respectively, with the head ends of the cylinders at the forward end of the base frame 39a and with the rod ends extending rearwardly therefrom. By admitting fluid, preferably hydraulic, under pressure to the heads ends of the cylinders, the piston rods 194 and 195 will be driven rearwardly to drive the cross head rearwardly sliding the cross head on the track bars 46 and 47. Similarly. admitting fluid under pressure to the rod ends of the cylinders will drive the piston rods 194 and 195 forwardly thereby pulling the cross head 45 forwardly sliding the same on the track bars 46 and 47.

Driving racks 50 and 51 are affixed to the cross head 45 in the region of the forward end thereof by any convenient securing means such as pins 201 extending through the upper and lower surfaces of the cross head while the rearward extremity of each of the racks 50 4and 51 extends into a receiving recess 202 in the crossl head 45. These racks 50 and 51 are preferably double faced composite resilient racks constructed as viewed in end view in Figure 4 to have upper and lower rack members 203 and 204 each provided with an outwardly facing rack toothed face 205 and 206, respectively. The upper rack member 203 has a substantially U-shaped crosssectional configuration and the lower rack 204 is provided with upstanding shoulder portions 207 and 208 which matingly engage the interior of the upper rack 203. Biasing members such as compression springs 209 are disposed between the upper and lower rack members 203 and 204 and between the upstanding shoulder members 207 and 20S to seat against the bight portion of the upper rack member 203 and to resiliently bias the rack members 203 and 204 away from each other.

With this arrangement, the racks 50 and 51 are adapted to positively engage gears on the rolls 42 and 43 substantially irrespective of the vertical spacing between the rolls 42 and 43 within the limits of their vertical movement between the roll track cam plates 84 and 85. More specically, the roll 42 is provided with a pair of gears 210 and 211 which are coaxially afl'ixed thereto and axially displaced so that their outer faces are spaced apart a distance substantially the same as the width of the wedge block 80. The lower roll 43 has gears 212 and 213 which are axially aiiixed thereto and similarly axially spaced a distance about the same as the Width of the lower wedge block 81. The rack 50 thus engages the gears 210 and 212 at one side of the rolls 42 and 43 while the rack 51 positively engages the gears 211 and 213 at the other side of the roll 43.

In addition, the mill housing 40 carries a plurality of substantially stationary racks which also positively engage the gears 210 through 213, respectively. Single faced racks 214 and 215 are disposed with their toothed faces downwardly and positively engaging the gears 210 and 211 on the roll 42 and are disposed Within the wedge-like recess in the upper housing block 69 on opposite sides of the roll track cam plate 84 and against the horizontal face 82 of the wedge block S0. Similarly, single face rack members 26 and 217 rest against the horizontal upper face S3 of the lower wedge block 81 and within the wedging recess in the lower housing block 70 and on opposite lateral sides of the lower roll track cam plate 85 with their toothed surfaces facing upwardly in positive engagement with the gears 212 and 213 on the lower roll 43. As the cross head 4S is reciprocated on the track bars 46 and 47 by actuation of the double acting piston-cylinder assemblies 48 and 49, it carries with it the racks 50 and 51. The racks 50 and 51, however, positively engage the several gears on the rolls 42 and 43 and positively rollingly drive the same thereby rollingly driving the rolls on the roll track cam plates 84 and 85 with the gears rollingly engaging and positively engaging the racks 214 through 217, respectively.

During working as by rolling the workpiece 44 between the rolls 42 and 43, however, the rolls may tend to slip slightly or there may be a rolling rate or tooth pitch difference between the substantially fixed racks 214 through 217 and the reciprocating racks 50 and 51. To accommodate any of these difficulties, the racks 214 through 217 are resiliently mounted on gib bars 218, 219, 220 and 221 at the forward and rearward ends of the upper racks and at the forward and rearward ends of the lower racks, respectively. These gib bars 218 through 221 are secured to the roll track cam plates 84 and S5 as shown in the fragmental illustration of Figure 6 wherein the upper rearward gib bar 219 is secured to the upper roll track cam plate 84 by any convenient means such as machine screws or the like 222. The `racks are constructed to have a length slightly less than the longitudinal dimension of the roll track' cam platesk and,`asshown in Figure 6, a space 223`r is left between the rearward end of the upper rack 215 and the gib bar 219. The gib bars are apertured, however, as as` 224. for passage of a stud 225 therethrough, which stud 22S is secured to the rack. At its outer end, the studs 225 are threaded as at 226 andcarry a nut 227 which controls the biasing of springs 22S surrounding the studs and disposed between the nut and the gib bar.

. Each of the racks 214 through 217 is so provided withr studs and biasing means and bias adjusting means at each of its ends so thatA any variation or slight slippage may be taken up by small longitudinal movement of the appropriate racks. The lower gib. bars 220 and 221 additionally operate to retain the lower roll track cam plate against longitudinal movement since these gib bars rest against the rearward face of the lower housing block 70 and therearward edges of the tie plates 71 and 72 as the gib bars are secured to the `lower roll track cam plate 85. As illustrated in Figure 6, the upper rearward gib bar 219 abuts the rearward face of the upper housing block 69 and assists in preventing any longitudinal movement of the upper roll track cam plate 84.

Thus, the rolls 42 and 43 are substantially positively driven by reciprocation of the racks 50 and 51 andas the rolls 42 and 43 roll rearwardly and forwardly, they carry the roll carriage recipocably rearwardly and forwardly within the mi-ll housing 40 and slidably on the track bars 46 and 47.

The rolling mill of Figures 7 through 9 is substantially similarly arranged with its cross head 58 recessed with tracking recesses 229 and 230 (Figure 9) slidably carryingthe cross head 58 on the track bars 60 and 61. The cross head 53 is reciprocably driven by double acting cylinderpiston assemblies 62 and 63 and carries with it double face racks 59a and 59-b which may be constructed similarly to the racks 50 and 51 or which may be solid racks having upper and lower toothed surfaces. The racks 59a and 59b are secured to the cross head 58 in any convenient manner as by pins 231 provided through apertures in the cross head 58 and in the rear end of the racks 59a and, 591:. The racks 59a and 59h are preferably locked or secured in appropriate forwardly and rearwardly extending rack receiving apertures 232 in the cross head 58.

At its outer ends, the cross head 58 is pinned, as by pins 233 to coupling members 234 and 23S on the ends of the piston rods 236 and 237 of the uid piston-cylinder'assemblies 62 and 63. As the cross head 58 is reciprocated by powered actuation` of the piston-cylinder assemblies 62 and 63, it reciprocates the racks 59a and 59h to reciprocate the rolls 55 within the roller carriage 54, and thus also the roller carriage 54, and to roll the rolls 55 and 56 on the roll' track cam plates 129 and 130.y

The ,rolls 55 and 56 are positively rolled since each car ries a pair of gears coaxial with the rolls and xed thereon for rotation therewith and for engagement with the toothed surfaces or faces of the racks 59a and 59h, respectively. Also, the gears on the rol'ls S5 and 56 positively engage rack members adjacent to the roll track cam plates 129 and 130 within the wedge grooves 123 and 124. These racks are heldin place by upper and lower gib bars 23S-239 and 24U-241. The gib bars are secured to the roll track cam plates at their forward and rearward ends and resiliently carry the racks by studs 242 having biasing springs 243 and bias-adjusting nuts 244. This construction is substantially identical to that described hereinabove, with particular reference to Figures 5 and 6.

Therefore, powered reciprocation of the crosshead 58 will positively roll the rolls 55 and 56 rearwardly during a working stroke to roll the workpiece 57 therebetween, with the rolls rolling on the roll'track cam plates 129 and 130 and with the gears positively meshing with the double-faced racks 59a and 59b and with the single-faced racks adjacent to the roll track cam plates 129 and 130. The rolls will therefore be positively powered and positively rolled during the rearward or working stroke and reversal of the fluid pressure in the piston-cylinder assemblies 62 and 63 will cause the crosshead 58 to move forwardly and thereby reciprocate the roll carriage 54 forwardly duringl a return stroke, rolling the rolls 55 and 56 forwardly.

The gripper carriages and work tensioning mechanisms Although the rolling mill of Figures 7 and 8 is operable to roll any particular desired form of workpiece, the workpiece 57 has been illustrated herein as a relatively short slug of raw bar stock positioned to be rolled between the rolls 55 and 56 to effect elongation of the slug, to reduce its thickness, and to impart any desired cross-sectional conguration thereto which may be regular throughout the length of the slug or varied as desired. The particular cross-sectional configuration and longitudinal configuration depend upon the complementary contour provided in the rolling portion of the rolls 55 and 56. For example, the rolls 55 and 56 may be provided with such a peripheral contour and such an axial contour in their working sections as to roll turbine blades or buckets, or air vanes or'the like, as desired, with or without integral root portions, as desired.

The workpiece 57 is guided in any convenient manner between the work guides 181 and 182 to a position between the rolls 55 and 56, where it is securely gripped by a work gripper head 245 including a pair of pivoted arms 246 and 247. Said arms are pivoted as by pivot pins 248 and 249 in a gripper head plate 250, with the arms 246 and 247 being provided with jaws 251 and 252 adapted to clamp the workpiece 57 therebetween. The gripper carriage itself is provided with a carriage frame 253 which is slidably mounted on smooth carriage track rearward portions 59C and 59d of the double-faced racks 59a and 59b by tracking grooves in the gripper carriage frame 253. A fluid operating cylinder or like member 254 is mounted on the gripper carriage frame 253 with a reciprocable piston rod 255 positioned for powered reciprocation substantially coaxially with the workpiece 57.

A gripper jaw cam 256 at the forward or head end of the piston rod 255 is frusto-pyramidal or frusto-conical and disposed to be positioned reciprocably between the rearward ends of the gripper jaw carrying arms 246 and 247 so that forward movement of the cam 256 will spread the rearward ends of the arms 246 and 247, thereby closing the jaws 251 and 252 toward each other and upon the work piece 57. Rearward movement of the cam 256 will, of course, release the jaws 251 and 252 from the workpiece 57, thereby permitting it to be removed from the gripper head 245. l

During a working stroke of the rolling mill, the gripper carriage and head are moved rearwardly with the crosshead 58 by a tension control iluid cylinder 255 mounted substantially centrally on the crosshead 58 and secured to a mounting plate 256' therein. The tensioning cylinder carrying wall 256' is provided with an aperture 257 through which the rod end of the cylinder 255' extends. The piston rod 258 associated with cylinder 255' for powered reciprocation is secured to the gripper carriage frame 253, by any convenient means, as by threading the same into an end boss 259 on the rearwardly facing end of the gripper carriage frame 253.

By controlling the fluid pressure in the cylinder 255 to move the piston rod 258 rearwardly during the working stroke, the tension on the workpiece 57 may be accurately and carefully controlled for operation of the rolling mill in accordance with the principles of the present invention. so that the tension does not exceed the tensile strength of the material and, when desired, so that the tension s of such force as to be only sufficient to nold the end of the workpiece as the same is rolled rearwardly out from between the work rolls 55 and 56. Since the speed of the work rearwardly leaving the position between the rolls 55 and 56 may exceed the rearward speed of the roll carriage 54, the cylinder 255 and piston rod 258 may be so controlled as toslidelthe gripper carriage rearwardly on the track portions',

59C and 59d of the rack bars at a speed proper to compensate for the increased speed of the workpiece.

In the rolling mill of Figures l and 2, the gripper carriage 189 includes a carriage frame 260 having tracking and supporting ears 261 and 262 which slidably support the gripper carriage in track grooves 263 and 263 in the crosshead 45 and provided therein by flange-like members extending inwardly from the regions of the track grooves 190 and 191 where the crosshead is slidably supported on the main track bars 46 and 47.

The gripper carriage frame 260 is provided with a centrally disposed longitudinally extending aperture 264 (Fig. 2) through which the raw bar stock workpiece 44 is fed forwardly to the working rolls 42 and 43 and therebetween. At its longitudinal center the aperture 264 is substantially enlarged to carry gripper jaws 265 and 266 in a manner providing for vertical reciprocation of the upper gripper clamping jaw 265 into and out of clamping engagement with the workpiece 44 passing between the jaws 265 and 266. The clamping of the workpiece by the jaws is controlled and effected by a vertically disposed uid cylinder-piston assembly 267 having its rod end disposed downwardly and with the piston rod 268 thereof affixed to the upper jaw 265.

By controlled admission of fluid under pressure to the cylinder-piston assembly 267, the workpiece 44 is firmly clamped between the jaws 265 and 266 during the rolling operation or working stroke of the rolling mill, and during the return stroke of the rolling mill, and is released for feeding forwardly to the next working position at the end of a return stroke and before the beginn ning of a working stroke.

While the workpiece is being rolled between the rolls 42 and 43 in a working stroke of the rolling mill, tension on the workpiece is controlled by a pair of double-acting fluid operated piston-cylinder assemblies 269 and 270 which are preferably horizontally disposed and fixed to apertured mounting bosses 271 and 272 on the rearward face of the crosshead 45 and laterally spaced less than the lateral length of the gripper carriage frame 260. By construction preference the cylinders of these assemblies 269 and 270 extend through the apertures in the bosses 271 and 272 to a position substantially forwardly thereof, and the piston rods 273 and 274 of the assemblies 269 and 270 extend still further forwardly thereof and are fixed in any convenient manner to the gripper carriage frame 260 at the rearward face thereof.

The piston-cylinder assemblies 269 and 270 are simultaneously controlled for substantially identical motion and operation so as to provide proper control for the tension on the workpiece and rearward movement of the gripper carriage frame 260 with the cross head 45 and with respect to the cross head 45. The manner of controlling the piston-cylinder assemblies 269 and 270 is preferably substantially identical to the manner of control for the cylinder-piston assembly 255 of the rolling mill of Figures 7 through 9 so that extrusion effects in the workpiece may be properly compensated for during the working stroke and so that the tension on the workpiece (or the lack thereof) may be properly contro'led as desired when rolling such workpieces such as raw bar stock or the like between the rolls 42 and 43.

The feed mechanism A feed mechanism 275 is shown in Figures l, 2 and 3 positioned to feed the work forwardly through the gripper carriage jaws and through the roll carriage between the rolls 42 and 43 before each working stroke of the roling mill or at any other desired time in the operation of the rolling mill, such as before alternate working strokes of the roll carriage 41 within the mill housing '40 between the roll track cam plates 84 and 85. The feed mechanism 275 is'mounted on the forward portion of thel gripper carriage frame 260 andY more particularly on a; forwardly extending substantially U-shaped integral portion of the gripper carriage frame 260, as indicated at`276. The feed mechanism itself includes a pair of journaled rolls 277 and 278, the upper roll 277 being journaled in the upper regions of the arms 279 and 280 of the U-shaped frame 276. The lower roll 278 is journaled on a pair of arms 281 and 282 which are pivotally secured to the gripper carriage frame 260, as at 283-283 thereby rotatably carrying the lower feed roll 278 on an axls parallel to the horizontal transversely extending axis of the substantially stationary upper feed roll 277 (the term stationary being employed here to mean stationary with respect to the gripper carriage frame 260).

The workpiece 44 extends longitudinally of the rolling mill between the feed rolls 277 and 278 and is biased against the upper feed roll 277 by the lower feed roll 278 which is biased upwardly by a resilient biasing roller and link arrangement including link arms 284 and 285 which are pivoted as at 286 and 287 to the forward extremities of the lower roll carrying arms 281 and 282. The lnks 284 and 285 carry a roller and biasing shaft 288 on their free ends 289 and 290. Rollers 291 and 292 are journaled on the shaft 288 to ride on a substantially horizontal track portion 293-293 provided by a cutout region in the arms 279 and 280 of the U-shaped frame 276 of the feed mechanism 275 and integral with the gripper carriage frame 260. Coupling members 295 and 296 are also iournaled on the shaft 288 inward`y from the rollers 291 and 292 and carry biasing rods 297 and 298 which extend rearwardly therefrom through apertures in the rearward portion of the U-frame 276 extending between the bight of the U-frame and the lower face of the gripper carriage frame 260, as at 299. Each of the rods 297 and 298 carry shoulder washers 300 secured thereon against axial movement forwardly of the plate 299' and have biasing means such as compression springs 301 disposed between these shoulder members 300 and the front face of the plate 299. At their ou'er ends, the rods 297 and 298 are threaded and carry adjusting nuts 302 thereon.

The adjusting nuts 302 limit the upward movement of the lower roll 278 when the workpiece 44 is absent from between the feed rolls 277 and 278. Under normal operating conditions, however, the v lower rol 278 is biased upwardly against the workpiece 44 by the biasing springs 300 operating to urge the shaft 288 forwa dly with the rollers 291 and 292 rolling on their tracks 293 to move the links 284 and 285 which are normally inclined downwardly and rearwardly, to a substantia'ly vertical position, thereby raising the roll carrying arms 281 and 282 and raising the lower roll 278 upward into engagement with the workpiece 44 and thereby bias'ng the workpiece 44 into rolling engagement with the upper feed roll 277.

The upper roll 277 is fixed for rotation with its shaft 303 by being rotatably secured thereto in any convenient manner as by keying or splining or the like and at its outer end the shaft 303 carries an overrunning clut'h mechanism 304 which has one side thereof secured to the shaft 303 for rotation therewith and the other side thereof secured to a gear 305 which is journaled on the shaft 363. An outwardly extending rack track arm 306 which is preferably integral with the arm `279 of the U-frame 276 is provided with a forwardly and rearwardly extending rack track recess 307 in substantially the same vertical plane as the gear 305. A rack 308 meshing w'th the gear 385 and tracking the recess 307 is secured to the piston rod 309 of a feed mechanism double acting pistoncylinder assembly 310 disposed for forward and r:ar ward actuation and secured on an appropr'ately conguratcd support portion 311 of the gripper carriage frame 260.

` By this arrangement, rearward movement of the, rack 307,I by actuation of the piston-cylinder assembly 310 and its piston rod 309, will cause the upper roll 277 to rotate clockwise as viewed in Figure 2 to thereby feed the workpiece 44 forwardly as biased thereagainst by the lower feed roll 278. The rack 308 will operate to rotate the upper roll 277 in a clockwise direction by rotating the gear 38S and the overrunning clutch 304 which is locked for clockwise rotation. The stroke length may be accurately controlled by the fluid system to thereby control the length of feed for the workpiece 44. On the return stroke of the rack 307 in a forward direction the motion of the gear 305 rotating in a counterclockwise direction as viewed in Figure 2 will be lost in the overrunning clutch 304 which may be of any known design andv which does not form a part of this invention.

The workpiece spread limiting mechanism The spread limiting bars 188 and 188 which restrict lateral spreading of the workpiece during the working stroke and which are clamped against the working portions 42a and 42b of the working rolls during the working stroke by the backup rolls 183 through 186, are pivotally secured to the upstanding arms 279 and 280 of the U-frarne of the feed mechanism. More particularly, the spread limiting bars 188 and 188 are securely pinned by pins 312 and 313 to appropriately placed ears 314 and 315 inwardly projecting from the arms 279 and 280 of the U-frame. Thus, as the gripper carriage 189 is retracted through actuation of the piston-cylinder assemblies 269 and 270, the spread limiting bars 188 and 188' will be retracted therewith. During the working stroke and during the return stroke, the spread lfmiting bars 188 and 188 are pressurably urged against the workpiece 44 by the backing rollers 183 through 186 and so that the major portion of the length of the bars will be flat against the sides of the workpiece as the same is rolled, they are bent rearwardly outwardly as the 316 and 317, respectively. This outward bend in the bars 188 and 188' also permits the bars to be freed from the sides of the workpiece 44 and the working portions 42a and 43a of the rolls 42 and 43 at the end of the return stroke of the roll carriage 41 within the mill housng 40.

To permit the spread limiting bars 188 and 188 to be released from the workpiece 44 at the end of the working return stroke the bars 188 and 188 are provided with arcuate recesses 318, 319, 320 and 321 which are appropriately positioned to accommodate the rollers 183 through 186 at the end of the working return stroke.

More specifically', the rollers 183 and 18S are provided withy a peripheral recess as at 321 and 322, respectively, and the bars 188 and 188 have the recesses 318 and 320 so formed therein as to have a substantially T cross-sectional coniiguration whereby the outstanding leg portions 323 and 324 of the T-shapes do not extend outwardly past the outer faces of the bars 187 and 188, and lit into the recesses 321 and 322. The axially outer portions of the rollers 183 and 185, however, drop into the arcuate recessed regions of the recesses 318 and 320 at the end of the working stroke thereby permitting the bars 188 and 188 to separate laterally outwardly from the workpiece 44.

The backing rollers 184 and 186, however, are provided with arcuately recessed or peripherally recessed axially upper and lower portions 32S and 326, respectively, thereby leaving them with a peripheral shoulder portion 327 and 32,8 axially centrally thereof. The recesses 319 and 321 in the bars 187 and 188 are congurated to accommodate the shoulders 327 and 328 but do not extend for the full vertical height of the bars 187 and 188.

This variation in the manner of recessing the bars 188 and: 188 lat 318 through 321 permits continuous backing of the bars 188 and 18S' during the working stroke and the return stroke thereof since the outwardlyanged or shoulder portions 327 and 328 of the rollers 184 and 186 aaaaree 17. will roll on the outstanding portions 323 and 324 of the relief recesses 318 and 320. It should also be noted that the radius of curvature of the arcuate recesses 318 through 321 is substantially greater than the maximum radius of curvature of the rollers 183 through 186 thereby permitting easier rolling of the rollers out of the relief recesses 318 through 321. This is not critical, however, but is provided by preference.

Another and special form of spread limiting is illustrated in Figures and 11 wherein a pair of rolls 329 and 330 rolling on roll track cam plates `331 and 332 roll a work-piece 333 in a matrix 334 and between the working portions 329:1 and 330a of the rolls 329 and 330. In this form of rolling wherein the rolls are positively rotated in Iaccordance with the principles of the present invention, the matrix 334 is provided with a longitudinal recess 335 having spaced opposed side walls 336 and 337 which are spaced a distance substantially equal to the width or axial dimension of the working portion 329a of the upper work roll 329. The bottom face 338 of the matrix 334 may have any desired contour but is herein shown as being flat for purposes of convenience of illustration and explanation. At the meeting line of the lower face 338 of the matrix recess and the side wall faces 336 and 337, the matrix is preferably slightly undercut as at 339 and 340 to prevent binding of the upper roll working portion 329a within the matrix 334.

With this arrangement, the matrix rolls on the working portion 331m of the lower roll 330 with the workpiece 333 resting in the recess 335 therein and the working portion 329a of the upper roll 329 rolls the workpiece 333 in the recess 335 of the matrix 334. Spreading of the workpiece 333 is substantially limited and prevented in the matrix and at the end of the working stroke the workpiece 333 may be slidably removed from the matrix member, the workpiece 333 having been provided with its desired contour, cross-sectional configuration, and gauge, land having been elongated either by rolling or by a combination of rolling and extruding in accordance with the principles of the present invention.

The operation of the rolling mill At the beginning of a working operation for the rolling mill 39 of Figures l through 6, the gripper jaws 265 and 266 are separated by retracting actuation of the cylinderpiston assembly 267 and the workpiece 44 is moved forwardly between the feed rolls 277 and 278. Repeated reciprocation of the rack 307 by actuation of the cylinder-piston assembly 310 will feed the workpiece forwardly until its leading end passes between the work rolls 42 and 43 and specifically between the working portions 42a and 43a thereof. The gauge to which the workpiece is to be rolled by the rollers 42 and 43 may be adjusted by adjusting the position of the wedge blocks 80 and 81 to move the roll track cam plates 83 and 84 closer t0- gether or further apart, etc. as desired. Then the primary power piston-cyclinder assemblies 48 and 49 are actuated to move the cross head 45 rearwardly slidably on the primary track bars 46 and 47. This will move the racks 50 and 51 rearwardly and positively roll the rolls 42 and 43 over the work to effect rolling thereof as described in conjunction with Figures 12 and 14. Immediately prior to powered movement of the cross head 45 rearwardly, however, the piston-cylinder assembly 267 of the gripper 275 is actuated to close the jaws 265 and 266 on the work piece to clamp the same in the gripper carriage. During the rearward stroke or working stroke, the tension control cylinders 269 and 270 are actuated to place a predetermined tension on the workpiece which is determined in accordance with the tensile strength of the workpiece. The tension provided by the cylinders 269 and 270 should not exceed the tensile strength of the workpiece. Cylinders 269 and 270 also operate to slide the gripper carriage frame 260 rearwardly with respect to the cross head to accommodate elongation of the workpiece which results from rolling lthe same, and to accommodate the difference between the exit velocity of the workpiece 44 and the rate of advance of the double faced-racks 50 and 51.

At the same time that the cross head is moved rearwardly to pull the racks 50 and 51 meshing with the gears 21@ through 213 which also mesh with the racks 214 through 217 to positively control rolling of the rolls 42 and 43, the spread limiting bars 187 and 188 are urged against the lateral sides of the working regions 42a and 43a of the rolls and the rolled portions of the workpiece 44, This is accomplished by pulling the spread limiting bars 137 and 188 out of recessed engagement with the rolls 183 through 186 and into positive spread limiting backing engagement with the rolls 183 through 186.

At the end of the working stroke, a planishing rolling pass may be effected by reversing the direction of actuation of the cylinders 48 and 49 thus moving the cross head forwardly to roll the rolls 42 and 43 forwardly by positive engagement with the several racks. If it is desired to release the rolls 42 and 43 from the workpiece 44, however, this may be accomplished by any one of several means such as release of the roll track cam plates, or either of them, from the rolls by withdrawal of the wedge blocks and 81. Another work release means may be provided by outwardly divergently tapering the rear end portions of the rolls track cam plates.

Immediately prior to the beginning of the working stroke, the rolls 42 and 43 should be out of engagement with workpiece 44 to permit feeding of the workpiece 44 forwardly by actuation of the feed mechanism 275. This may also be accomplished through any of several means such as notching the work rolls 42 and 43 as shown in cross-Section in Figure 2, and/or by outwardly divergently tapering the front ends of the roll track cam plates whereby the rolls 42 and 43 will be biased outwardly away from the work by the biasing springs 167 and 168 between the bearing blocks 161, 162, 165 and 166. Also, the wedge blocks 80 and 81 may be retracted for this purpose.

Also, at the end of the return stroke the workpiece is released by the spread limiting bars 188 and 188 which prevent lateral spreading of the workpiece beyond predetermined limits, by seating the rollers 183 through 186 in the recesses 318 through 321 provided therefor.

The operation of the rolling mill 39 is then cyclatory since at the end of each return stroke when the workpiece 44 is released a new increment of the workpiece of proper length will be fed forwardly by operation of the feed mechanism 275. The cylinders 48 and 49 will again be energized to move the cross head rearwardly positively driving the rolls and reciprocating the roll carriage rearwardly. A return stroke will again be eiected and once again the workpiece will be released to permit a new cycling operation to be effected.

It will be observed that the rolling mill 39 is a device of general utility which is operable to take a draft in the workpiece far in excess of the normal slip angle for the rolls 42 and 43 by positively driving and rotating those rolls through gear and rack arrangements and the like. Although the device is one of general utility, it will be observed, that it is particularly well adapted to roll such longitudinally regular and transversely irregular shaped pieces as airfoil contoured turbine blades, buckets, varies and the like with or without integral root portions.

The rolling mill of Figures 7, 8 and 9 is also a device of general utility which is operable to take a draft in a workpiece well in excess of the normal slip angle and which is adapted for abnormally eflicient rolling of unusually contoured workpiece such as turbine blades, buckets, vanes and the like.

In the rolling mill of Figures 7, 8 and 9, the rolls 55 and 56 are notched or recessed as at 55a and 56a, respectively, to -accommodate the gripper jaws 251 and 252.

aecomo' When slug rolling with the mill of Figures 7, 8 and 9, the workpiece is fed rearwardly between the guides 181 and 182 and between the rolls 55 and 56 to project slightly into the -gripper notches 55a and 56a in those rolls where the rearward end of the slug is gripped between the jaws 25'1 and 252 by actuation of the nid cylinder-piston assembly 254. Then the primary power cylinders 62 and 63 are actuated to drive the cross head S rearwardly carrying the racks 59a and 5% rearwardly therewith. Since the racks 59a and 59h are double faced racks they will engage the gears on the opposite ends of the rolls 5S and 56 and the gears in turn will engage racks on each side of the roll track cam plates 129 and 130 to thereby positively roll on the workpiece 57 to roll in accordance with the principles of the present invention as described in conjunction with Figures l2 and 14. During the rolling `of the slug 57, the tensioning cylinder-piston assembly 255 is actuated to slide the gripper carriage frame 253 on the tracking portions 59e and 59d of the racks and to control the tension on the workpiece and move the gripper carriage and the front end of the workpiece at a rate corresponding to the diiference between exit velocity of the workpiece and the rate of advance of the double faced racks 59a and 59h thus substantially constant.

At the end of the work stroke which reciprocates the roll carriage 54 rearwardly within the mill housing 53, if the slug has been suciently short, it will be released from between the rolls. If the slug 57 was longer, a planishing pass may be effected by immediately returning the roll carriage and reversing the rolling of the rolls 55 and 56 over the workpiece by reverse actuation of the cylinders 62 and 63 moving the cross head 5S forwardly, sliding the same on the principal track bars oil and 61 and driving the racks 59a and 5% forwardly. Should it be found undesirable in any particular instance to planish roll the workpiece, the rolls may be released from the workpiece at the end of the working stroke by such means as withdrawing the wedge blocks 125 and 126 and/ or rearwardly outwardly tapering the cam faces of the roll track cam plates 129 and 130. This will release the workpiece from the rolls at the end of the working stroke and the workpiece may then be withdrawn by release of the `gripper jaws 251 and 252 therefrom. At the beginning of the working stroke,` the rolls are held released from the workpiece either by rolling them sufficiently forwardly to permit the workpiece to be fed rearwardly between the forward ends of the notched recesses 55a and 56a and/ or releasing the wedge blocks 12S and 126 and/or by forwardly outwardly tapering the cam faces of the roll track cam plates 129 and 130.

Rolling with a matrix as described Vin conjunction with Figures 'l0 and 11 may be effected with either of the above described embodiments of the present invention and in accordance with the methods of the present invention in an obvious manner since the precise coniiguration of the rolls employed in rolling mills embodying the principles of the present invention is not critical to the present invention.

Since numerous modifications and variations may be made without departing from the true scope and spirit Of the novel concepts and principles of my invention, I intend to cover all such modifications and variations.

I claim as my invention:

l. A rolling mill for rolling -a metal workpiece, comprising: a support structure; a mill housing fixed in position on said support structure; track rails secured to said mill housing and extending therethrough and rearwardly therefrom; a roll carriage reciprocably arranged in said mill housing and slidably arranged on said track rails and including a pair of rolls positioned to roll at least a portion o-f a workpiece therebetween; a erosshead slidably disposed on said track rails; rack and pinion means kpositively coupling said rolls together, said rolls to said mill housing, and-each of Asaid rolls to said crosshead; a mechanism arranged to drive said crosshead; a gripper carriage slidably supported on said crosshead for relative movement therewith in the direction of said track rails; variable tension control means drivably connecting said gripper carriage to said crosshead; and a work gripper mechanism carried by said gripper carriage.

2. In combination, at least one side spread limiting bar having a rst surface for engaging the side of a workpiece being rolled, and a roller located to rollingly engage the opposite surface of said bar along the length thereof, said bar being relatively reciproeable with respect to said roller, said opposite surface having a recess directed toward said first surface and extending lengthwise of said bar for a distance less than its entire length and adapted to intermittently receive a peripheral portion of said roller, whereby when said roller is so received, said bar is disengaged from the workpiece by movement normal to said rst surface.

3. In combination, at least one side spread limiting bar having a first surface for engaging the side of a workpiece being rolled, and a pair of rollers radially spaced from each other and located to rollingly engage the opposite surface of said bar along the length thereof, said bar being relatively reoiprocable with respect to said rollers, said opposite surface having a pair of recesses directed toward said first surface and extending lengthwise of said bar for a distance less than its entire length and each adapted to intermittently and simultaneously receive a peripheral portion of one of said rollers, kthe peripheral portion of one of said rollers and its recess being also axially spaced from the peripheral portion of the other of said rollers and its recess, whereby when said rollers are so received, said bar is disengaged from the workpiece by movement normal to said first surface, and whereby each of said rollers is receivable in only one of said recesses during relative reciprocation between said bar and said rollers.

4. A rolling mill, .comprising `in combination: a reciprocably movable roll carriage having a pair of rolls rotatably carried therein and positioned to roll at least a portion of a workpiece therebetween; a power drive mechanism constructed to provide reciprocating forces to a portion thereof; a workpiece tension control positively connectabie to the workpiece and supported on the reciprocable portion of the power drive mechanism to be reciprocated thereby, said control being operative to apply a tension between the workpiece and the reciprocable portion of the power drive mechanism independently of said reciprocating forces applied to said portion of said power drive and to permit relative .movemen-t between the reciprooable port-ion of the power drive and the workpiece during a working stroke of said rolls; and means directly connecting said reciprocable portion Y of said power drive mechanism to each of said rolls to drivably and reciprocably apply torque thereto, said means also synchronizing the movements of said rolls with said power drive mechanism, and being under tension during a power stroke.

5. A rolling mill for rolling a metal workpiece, comprising in combination: a support structure; a stationary mill housing fixed in position on said support structure and having a horizontal opening extending therethrough; track rails iixedly secured to said mill housing in said horizontal opening and extending therethrough and rearwardly therefrom; a roll carriage Vreciprocably arranged in said mill housing and slidably supported at all times within said horizontal opening on said track rails in a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction, said roll carriage having -a pair of rolls positioned to roll at least a portion of a workpiece therebetween; a crosshead also slidably supported on said track rails outwardly of said mill housing i-n a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction; iirstrack and pinion means Apositively coupling said rolls together, and aise 'coupling 'each of said rolls to said crosshead; additional rack means coupling said pin-ion means to said mill housing; a mechanism arranged to drive said crosshead; and a workpiece tension control system carried by said crosshead for coupling the workpiece to the crosshead and providing a variable tension therebetween.

6. A rolling mill for rolling a metal workpiece, comprising in combination: a support structure; a stationary mill housing fixed in position on said support structure and having a horizontal opening extending therethrough; track rails fixedly secured to said mill housing in said horizontal opening and extending therethrough and rearwardly therefrom; a roll carriage reciprocably arranged within the horizontal opening of said mill housing and slidably supported at all times on said track rails in a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction, said roll carriage having a pair of rolls jointly reciprocable therewith and positioned to roll at least a portion of a workpiece therebetween; a crosshead also slidably disposed on said track rails outwardly of said mill housing in a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction; at least one sidespread limiting bar secured at one end to said crosshead and extending through said roll carriage and through said horizontal opening of said mill housing and slidably between said rolls, said bar having a rst Surface for engaging the side of the workpiece; a roller having a xed axis and located to rollingly engage the opposite surface of said bar along the length thereof, said opposite surface having a recess directed toward said rst surface and extending lengthwise of said bar for a distance less than its entire length and adapted to intermittently receive a peripheral portion of said roller, whereby when said roller is so received, said bar is disengaged from the workpiece by a movement normal to said first surface; rst rack and pinion means positively coupling said rolls together, and also coupling each of said rolls to said crosshead, additional rack means coupling said pinion means to said stationary mill housing; and a mechanism constructed to reciprocably drive said crosshead.

7. A rolling mill for rolling a metal workpiece, cornprising in combination: a support structure; a stationary mill housing xed in position on said support structure and having a horizontal opening extending therethrough; track rails lixedly secured to Said mill housing in said horizontal opening and extending therethrough and rearwardly therefrom; a roll carriage reciprocably arranged within the horizontal opening of said mill housing and slidably supported at all times on said track rails in a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction, said roll carriage having a pair of rolls jointly reciprocable therewith and positioned to roll at least a portion of a workpiece therebetween; a crosshead also slidably disposed on said track rails outwardly of said mill housing in a manner to preclude vertical movement therebetween in either direction; at least one sidespread limiting bar secured at one end to said crosshead and extending through said roll carriage and through said horizontal opening of said mill housing and slidably between said rolls, said bar having a rst surface for engaging the side of the workpiece; a pair of rollers radially spaced from each other and having lixed axes, said axes being located so that said rollers rollingly engage the opposite surface of said bar along the length thereof, said opposite surface having a pair of recesses directed toward said first surface and extending lengthwise of said bar for a distance less than its entire length and each adapted to intermittently and simultaneously receive a peripheral portion of one of said rollers, the peripheral portion of one of said rollers and its recess being also axially spaced from the peripheral portion of the other of said rollers and its recess, whereby when said rollers are so received, said bar is disengaged from the workpiece by movement normal to said irst surface, and whereby each of said rollers is receivable in only one of said recesses during relative reciprocation between said bar and said rollers; first rack and pinion means positively coupling said rolls together, and also coupling each of said rolls to said crosshead; additional rack means cou pling said pinion means to said stationary mill housing; and a mechanism constructed to reciprocably drive said crosshead.

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